49erFX World Champs Wrap up in Florida

Published On: 15 February 2016

WAIS sailor Caitlin Elks and her 49erFX skipper Tess Lloyd have completed the 2016 World Championships in Florida in 14thplace.

The pair were the top ranked of the three competing Australian crews, each of whom are actively chasing qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Elks and Lloyd had hoped an appearance in the medal round would help boost their selection cause, but fell short after a final day of fleet racing could only muster 16th, 14th and 12th place finishes, which left them short of the top 10 medal round.

Elks said it was a case of back to the drawing board as the selection battle continues.

 

“We didn’t end up in the top ten as we had hoped, so we’ll have a bit of work to do over the next few weeks. But we are really trying to get an Olympic worthy performance on the score board,” she said.

Skipper Tess Lloyd added, “It was pretty tricky today and a bit shiftier than all the other days, but overall I think there are some good positives we can go away with. We are going back to Australia now and will have to put in some good hours and will head back to Europe after that to aim for those good results.”

Olivia Price and Eliza Solly finished close behind in 16th place overall, whilst Haylee Outteridge and Nina Curtis completed competing in 24th position.

In the men’s 49er competition, WAIS athlete David Gilmour sailing with crew Lewis Brake finished 13th overall. The new combination earned two race wins across the campaign, but were also hamstrung by a couple of finishes towards the back end of the fleet, which cost them a spot in the top ten medal round.

Meanwhile, WAIS sailing scholarship athlete Carrie Smith and her crew Jaime Ryan prepared for their up-coming 470 class World Championships in Argentina, by competing at the South American Championships, also in Argentina.

The pair finished 13th and will look to claim automatic selection for Rio at the World titles from February 22-27 in San Isidro, Argentina if they can earn a top 10 finish at these championships.